COMPOSITION OF LOBSTERS. 



811 



gone in. Only when it is very hungry, as is especially the case later in summer, after the spawning 

 season and r.istiug of the shell is over, is it loss cautious and more ready to enter the traps. 



"The Lobster is best and (attest in the spring and early summer, while later in the summer 

 and autumn it becomes thin, in consequence of which the English will not take it during those 

 seasons." 



COMPOSITION OF LOBSTEUS. According to a series of careful analyses by Professor W. O. 

 Atwater, of Middletowu, Connecticut, the composition of the flesh of Lobsters is as follows, the 

 figures given indicating the average results obtained from three specimens received from the 

 coasts of Maine and Massachusetts : 



Proportions of edible portion and shell : Per cent. 



Total edible portion 39. 77 



Shell 67.47 



Loss in cleaning 2. 78 



Proportions of water and dry substance in edible portion : 



Water 82.73 



Dry substance 17. 27 



Chemical analysis calculated on dry substance : 



Nitrogen 12.64 



Albuminoids (nitrogen X 6.25) 78.37 



Fat 11.43 



Crude ash 10. 06 



Phosphorus (calculated as PiO) 2. 24 



Sulphur (calculated as SO,) i 2. 47 



Chlorine 3.46 



Chemical analysis calculated on fresh substance in flesh : 



Water 82.73 



Nitrogen 2.17 



Albuminoids (nitrogen X 6.25) 13.57 



Fat 1.87 



Crude ash 1.74 



Phosphorus (calculated as PC>5) -39 



Sulphur (calculated as SO,) - 43 



Chlorine 69 



Nutritive value of the flesh of Lobsters compared with beef as a standard and reckoned at 100. 61. 97 



The chemical composition of the flesh of the European Lobster is stated by Mr. Frank 

 Bnckland to be as follows: 



In connection with this table, Mr. Bnckland makes the following observations: 



"That phosphorus exists in large quantities in Lobsters may easily be proved. A Lobster in 



hot weather, when it ceases to be fresh, assumes a highly phosphorescent appearance when seen 



in the dark, equal, if not superior, to that of a glow-worm or luminous centipede. This light 



increases by friction . . . and this phosphorescent appearance is probably caused by the 



